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Catan Review

PROS

Current games are auto-saved and can be continued after you exit the application.

CONS

The game has a moderate learning curve, and new players may find themselves confused early on.

The gameplay can be a bit slower than other strategy games available.

No war options like in Civilization; this is conquering land gameplay only.

VERDICT

If you’re a fan of Settlers of Catan or Civilization, then Catan would be right up your alley and worth a look at.

Full Review

App Store Info

Catan is a turn based development strategy game for the iPhone similar to the Civilization series. The player’s goal is to set up and establish buildings, roads and collect resources on a small island. By building new structures and creating roads, you’ll earn development points, and the first player to 10 points wins the game.

Players place two houses and roads at the start of each match to start your empire. You’ll begin earning resources immediately to use based on the land grids surrounding these houses. And you’ll have to try and expand faster than the other civilizations in order to win. At first the game can be daunting but the tutorial mode will help you get you started and used to the game’s format.

The game’s visuals aren’t the prettiest but everything can be clearly seen. The soundtrack is well done and changes according to different in game events. Players are given two different options when playing the game, they can either verse the computer or can set up a pass and play multiplayer mode.

If you’ve played a Catan style game before, then all your favourite settlement style gameplay is here and with a simple, balanced interface. The only minor issue is that each game requires a minimum of four players, so this won’t be a quick play title. But the game offers a continue mode so you can pick up where you left off. So if you’re a fan of the Settlers of Catan board game or other civilization expanding games then this is a great title to keep an eye out for.

Description

True to the original game, you can compete with up to four players for the most settlements, the longest roads and the largest army. You can trade with each other and claim the precious land with all its resources.

The game allows you to challenge other Catan fans online via cross-platform multiplayer to prove your strategy skills or play against the AI:
Various computer opponents, each with their own individual characteristics, will prove themselves worthy competitors: the pirate Jean, who knows no compromise, Vincent the merchant, who never allows himself to be cheated, Sean the knight, who takes what is rightfully his...

The popular Catan expansions "Seafarers", "Cities and Knights" and two new special scenarios are available as In-App purchases.

The complete Seafarers expansion includes more than 10 additional scenarios with an extensive campaign. Become Harbormaster, discover new islands and extra game elements like ships, gold fields, treasures and pirates. Ahoy!

The Cities and Knights expansion introduces various new gameplay mechanics that add even more variety to Catan. Invest new trade goods in city improvements to build one of the three metropolises of Catan – but beware of the barbarians attracted by Catan’s new wealth! You’ll need your best knights to fend them off! C&K contains a short campaign and 7 challenging maps.

Exciting adventures await you in the two new scenarios "Enchanted Land" and "The Great Canal". Vanquish dragons and bag their treasures or build a canal to help barren grain fields bloom once more.

Question: An expansion seems gone after an update or reinstallation of Catan or after restoring the device?
Answer: Don’t worry! Your initial purchase is already saved in your iTunes account. You can restore your InApp purchases by selecting the restore-option in the Catan IAP menu.

Question: I lost my campaign progress after reinstalling, updating or restoring my device. Is there any way to restore it?
Answer: When saved games can’t be automatically restored, we’ve integrated a cheat code: In the campaign mode go to select player and enter „CatanWarp*“ (* = 1–15) as your player name and confirm. Exit the game via the home button and restart it. The campaign can now be continued from the specified level number (1–15). Levels up to the specified number will be unlocked in the custom game mode as well.

Question: Are dice rolls really random?
Answer: Of course! All dice rolls are 100% random and not modified in any way. We’re avid Catan players ourselves. We’ve played the iOS version hundreds of times while developing the program. There have been times when we won and lost a few games in a row because of the dice - just like when playing the board game!

*****
Questions or suggestions for improvements:
Mail to ios@usm.de
We are looking forward to your feedback!

Please do not ask your questions in the reviews as we do not have the possibility to respond to you there.

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*****

What's New in Version 4.2.1

Catan 4.2.1 focuses on improving performance: We’ve added a new dynamic loading mechanism and implemented various optimizations and fixes based on your comments:

Screenshots

Comments

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Chesco1 year, 2 months ago

DO NOT buy this game, there is also no online Multiplayer mode. What a bunch of idiot lazy devs! And a waste of $5 of my money!

curt1 year, 6 months ago

A word of caution. This game does not have a random dice throw, but will increase the games difficulty as you get ahead of the other players by no longer throwing numbers you have. The other players target you extensively sometimes being attacked 7-8 times consecutively, even when you no longer have anything to steal. If you enjoy a challenge, go for it...if you hate frustration it would be better to avoid this game.